23 Pinoy pilgrims, including CBCP official, hurt in Egypt bus accident

The Philippine government said a group of Filipino pilgrims, including an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, have been injured in a bus crash in Egypt.

The Department of Foreign Affair (DFA) said the crash, which occurred near Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, Egypt on Oct. 23, also killed the American husband of a Filipina pilgrim.

DFA Assistant Secretary Eduardo Muñez confirmed that Fr. Marvin Mejia, CBCP Secretary General, was among the victims of the road crash near the Israel border.

“The extent of the injuries suffered by the Filipinos range from bruises to broken bones, and most of them have been discharged from the hospital in Sharm-el-Sheik (in Sinai),” he said. “Many of them will be returning to the Philippines in the next few days.”

The CBCP earlier said that Mejia was with a group on pilgrimage tours in the Holy Land and Egypt.

Archbishop Romulo Valles, CBCP President, said the group, particularly those injured, received assistance from the Apostolic Nunciature in Cairo.

Fr. Jan Limchua, a Cebuano priest and Chargé d’affaires ad interim at the nunciature in Cairo, said that Mejia “is now fine and out of danger”.

“He’s discharged (from the hospital) and resting at a hotel,” Fr. Limchua said on Friday.

He said that the Philippine embassy in Cairo has also been monitoring closely the situation.

“They sent personnel from the embassy and also our Filipino OFWs in Sharm also assisted them in their needs,” he said.